Mount Whitney : Ask Biography

Mountain information

Name

Mount Whitney

Elevation

14505 ft (4421.1 m)

Prominence

10080 ft (3072.4 m)

Parent peak

El Pico de Orizaba

Listing

Ultra, US State High Point of California, 81st most prominent, SPS Emblem peak

Location

Sequoia National Park / Inyo National Forest, California, USA

Range

Sierra Nevada

Region

US-CA

Source

ngs

Type

Granitic

Age

Cretaceous

First ascent

August 18, 1873 � Charles Begole, Albert Johnson, John Lucas

Easiest route

Mount Whitney Trail (hike)

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Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14505 ft (4421.1 m). It is located at the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, just 84.6 mi (136150.5 m) west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at Badwater in Death Valley National Park (282 ft (86 m) below sea level). The western slope of the mountain lies within Sequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail which runs 211.9 mi (341 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. The eastern slope lies in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo County.